


Keeping Secrets

by MissCrazyWriter321



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Drama, F/M, Fluffy Ending, Jealous Rip, Romance, Scheming team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-09 01:33:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11094129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissCrazyWriter321/pseuds/MissCrazyWriter321
Summary: "He and Gideon have always told each other everything. Maybe he’s taken that for granted."





	Keeping Secrets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IncendiaGlacies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncendiaGlacies/gifts).



> Hello, everyone! I feel like I should preface this by saying that I don't often read or write jealousy fics. They just aren't my cup, I guess. 
> 
> But the wonderful Incendia requested this, so I did my best! I hope you all enjoy. 
> 
> As a side note, please let me know if this formats strangely. I'm posting it via mobile, instead of using my laptop, and I've never done that before.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The first time he notices, it’s Sara.

 

Her voice drifts down the hallway, followed by Gideon’s familiar lilt, but when he enters the room, they go silent. 

 

“Hey, Rip,” Sara grins, leaning against the console. 

 

Nodding absently, he tilts his head to the side. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to intrude.” 

 

She blinks once, before shrugging carelessly. “No worries. Gideon and I were done talking.” 

 

Lie.

 

He’s seen enough liars in his day to know. 

 

And it shouldn’t bother him, that Sara and Gideon have conversations he isn’t invited to, but… But it’s GIDEON, and they’ve always been the ones with their secrets. No one else. 

 

Shaking his head, he pushes the thought away. It doesn’t matter, he assures himself. 

 

His knuckles ache from clenching.

 

It doesn’t matter.

 

***

The next time, it’s Jax, and Rip actually manages to hear a little bit.

 

“Captain Hunter is nearly here.” Gideon’s sharp tone is the first thing he can make out, followed by a soft swear from Jax. 

 

There’s no point in hiding what he heard, not from Gideon, so he steps into the engine room softly. 

 

“Mister Jackson, is everything alright?” 

 

He almost feels bad at the way the boy’s eyes widen, shooting a quick glance up at the ceiling. “Yeah, Rip, all good. Just doing some repairs on Gideon.” 

 

“Repairs?” Carefully keeping his voice even, he makes a show of looking over the mess of wires in front of them. “What seems to be the trouble?” 

 

Before Jax can answer, Gideon cuts in. “Simple maintenance, Captain. Nothing to concern yourself with.” 

 

And that… Stings. Sara lying to him, Jax lying to him, those he can handle. But Gideon, he’s supposed to be able to count on. Gideon is supposed to tell him the truth.

 

“I see.” 

 

It’s too sharp, bitten off, and he knows Jax hears it. Gideon must as well, though her reaction isn’t as obvious. Jax frowns, concern covering his features, and Rip shakes his head. “Well, in that case…” 

 

He vanishes from the room before anyone can question him.

 

(“You know I would tell you, Captain, if anything was wrong.” 

 

Of course he does. But the fact remains that she’s keeping something from him, something that she’s sharing with their crew, and it aches somewhere deep inside him. 

 

When he doesn’t respond, she speaks again, voice oddly small. “Please don’t be angry.” 

 

Immediately, regret floods him, and he shakes his head. “I’m not angry, Gideon. Not with you. Never with you.” The last bit is so soft, he wonders if she can hear him. 

 

A pause, then- “You’re still my favorite, Captain.” 

 

“And you, mine.” 

 

He sleeps peacefully that night.) 

 

***

He tells himself he’ll do better. They’re part of a team, after all, and Gideon can’t be expected to share every moment with him. 

 

That’s what he tells himself, but then, the third time is Mick. 

 

Mick, who barely bothers to stop talking when Rip comes into the room. “Yeah, Gideon,” he mutters, downing a drink, “I’ll get back to ya on that.” 

 

On what? 

 

The question sticks in Rip’s throat, too pointless to bother voicing. He already knows an answer won’t come. 

 

Apparently, his irritation is clear on his face, because Mick laughs. 

 

“What’s the matter, English? Don’t like me talking to your girl?” 

 

It isn’t the first time he’s understood the phrase “seeing red,” but it has certainly been awhile. Taking a breath to compose himself, he rolls his eyes. 

 

“You can talk to whomever you like, Mister Rory. And…” He knows he should correct the term. She isn’t his girl, not really. Can an AI be anyone’s girl? Immediately, he pushes away that particular thought. She’s much more than an AI, and perhaps more human than some of the flesh and blood sort. 

 

He must be as convincing as he feels, because Mick only snorts. “Whatever.” 

 

Rip quickly makes himself scarce, as he’s gotten in the habit of doing, but Mick’s smug grin stays firmly in his mind throughout the day. 

 

(“His girl.” She’s so much more than that. She’s his partner, his confidante, and his closest friend. There’s so much more at stake here than a schoolboy crush. 

 

But he trusts her with this, as he does with everything. 

 

That doesn’t mean he likes it.)

 

*** 

It doesn’t stop. 

 

Next Ray, followed by Jax again, and one particularly memorable occasion with Martin, Lily, and Ray. He isn’t even sure when the youngest Stein came onboard. 

 

Sara and Mick are the worst, however. The others at least have the decency to trail off and change the subject when he enters. Those two never even attempt to be subtle. 

 

“Let me know what you find out, okay, Gideon?” Sara asks, slipping out of the room without waiting for an answer. 

 

“Yeah, that should work,” Mick grunts, winking at the ceiling. 

 

And it shouldn’t grate, but it DOES, because apparently his whole crew is in on this, keeping something from him, with Gideon’s help. 

 

There’s the rub, he supposes; if they were simply keeping him in the dark, he wouldn’t mind as much. But Gideon… He and Gideon have always told each other everything. 

 

Maybe he’s taken that for granted.

 

***

The hallways are eerily empty. He’s been wandering the Waverider for nearly twenty minutes, and has yet to run into a single soul. Normally, the team is so loud, he can find them in a heartbeat, but today, there isn’t a sound.

 

“Gideon, where is everyone?” 

 

Silence. 

 

He glances up at the ceiling with a frown. “Gideon?” 

 

No reply, and his stomach turns. She wouldn’t actively ignore him, he thinks. Hopes. Unless the crew persuaded her to prank him? Immediately, he rejects the idea. No, something is wrong. Something is horribly, terribly…

 

“Oh, Rip, there you are!” It’s a special kind of embarrassing to know that Ray Palmer managed to sneak up on him, but he can’t dwell on that.

 

“Doctor Palmer, I need your help. Gideon appears to be offline.” 

 

To his surprise, Ray only laughs. “You could say that. Come on,” he adds, gesturing. “Follow me.” 

 

Wordlessly, Rip complies, mind racing. Did the team take Gideon offline? Surely they wouldn’t. Would they even know how? Jax would, but he can’t imagine the young man actually being willing to go so far for a prank. 

 

He’s so lost in his thoughts, he almost doesn’t notice that they’ve joined the team. (In the engine room, of all places. Why would everyone be there?) And in the center of the room…

 

Impossible. 

 

She’s standing there, with dark curls hanging loosely over her shoulders, looking like she just stepped out of his dream. 

 

“Gideon?” He breathes, and she smiles softly. 

 

“I’m here, Captain.” 

 

She always is. But not usually like this, he has to admit. A hundred questions flood his mind, but he can’t quite choose where to start. 

 

“How?” 

 

A gesture to the team. “I had help.” 

 

Suddenly, the pieces click into place. The secretive conversations, ending suddenly when he walked into the room. Gideon’s willingness to keep something from him. All of it.

 

“We didn’t want to tell you,” she adds, “until we were certain it could be accomplished.” 

 

Mick cuts in with a smirk, “And by then, we were all having too much fun watchin’ ya stew.” 

 

Gideon’s cheeks flush pink, but she doesn’t deny it, and Rip swallows hard.

 

“You’re… Human.” 

 

“For now.” She sighs, gesturing. “This form is only temporary, I’m afraid.” 

 

“Think of ‘er as Cinderella, but without the mice an’ stuff.” 

 

She shoots the arsonist a wry grin. “I could always borrow Axel.” 

 

A scowl. “Not on your life.” 

 

The words wash over Rip, as he struggles to hone in on a single thought. She’s still looking at him, impossibly hopeful, and he doesn’t have a clue what to say. 

 

“I don’t understand.” 

 

She moves toward him tentatively, and he follows her lead, taking a step forward, then another. “It was Captain Lance’s idea. She suggested that you might like a chance to see me this way… Again.”

 

“Everyone helped,” Jax pipes up, and Rip supposes that makes sense. 

 

“How long will you be like this?” 

 

They stop right in front of each other, close enough to touch. “Approximately twelve hours. Until then, a basic program is running the ship. Shall we?”

 

She offers him her arm, and he automatically takes it, letting her lead him out of the room. 

 

It’s only out there in the hallway, safe from the team’s prying eyes, that it occurs to him. 

 

“I’ve made a right fool of myself lately, haven’t I?” 

 

“I’m afraid so.” Her tone is grave, but her eyes are dancing, and besides, he knows her teasing when he hears it. 

 

“Dreadfully sorry,” he murmurs, rubbing his forehead sheepishly. “I… It turns out that I do not, precisely… Share. Well.” 

 

“I hadn’t noticed.” She releases him arm, leaning back against the wall. “For the next eleven hours and fifty seven minutes, you won’t have to.”

 

It’s incredibly surreal, looking at her. He’s tracing every line of her face, every feature, every wrinkle of her nose, trying to commit it all to memory. 

 

“What should we do?” She doesn’t wait for a response. “Tour the pyramids, perhaps? Or a factory for those tiny, sugary treats you like so much? Anything you want.” 

 

“Anything I want?” He draws one hand up to cup her cheek, scanning her face carefully. At the first sign of hesitance from her, he’ll stop. This isn’t a dream world, where he doesn’t believe she’s really here. He knows she is, and if this isn’t what she wants, he won’t push.

 

If anything, however, this only makes her smile widen. She leans into his hand, covering it with her own. “Anything.” 

 

As he leans in, he watches her eyes, right up until they flutter closed. Nothing but trust, gentleness, and affection. He knows it must be reflected on his face. 

 

When their lips brush, it’s nothing like the dream world. It’s tentative, a soft exploration. 

 

He loves Gideon, this much he knows, but for obvious reasons, he’s never truly considered this. (That’s not entirely true. Their first kiss didn’t come from nowhere, after all. But a fleeting fantasy isn’t the same as truly hoping. This was never part of their relationship, and he was okay with that.) 

 

Now, though, she sighs against his mouth, and the unease of the past weeks vanish. 

 

Drawing back slightly, he watches her. She blinks, before smiling at him. “Perhaps the pyramids can wait,” she murmurs, and his heart stutters in his chest. She’s breathless, after such a simple kiss. He draws her back in. 

 

“Perhaps,” he agrees, before his lips meet hers.

 

In the back of his mind, he realizes that he owes his crew an apology. 

Her fingers thread through his hair, and he makes one important clarification: 

  
Later. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully you all enjoyed!! Thank you so much for reading. Until next time, lovelies!


End file.
